Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren, and the Cycle of Endless Speculation

The story F1 media love to hate.

Read the original article on Medium.

‘Is Daniel Ricciardo’s career over? Has Daniel lost it? Ricciardo doesn’t think his career at McLaren is over yet…’ The F1 news cycle seems to keep bringing a familiar headline back to life for the past few months whenever it runs of a story, and honestly, it is a little exhausting. I’m not even Ricciardo, and I’m tired of having to relive Daniel’s career on every F1 publication, blog, or podcast. I can’t even imagine what Ricciardo has to go through battling the whispers and the suggestive comments in person. It’s been widely reported that his main challenge has been his inability to adapt to his car at McLaren Racing, but my strategy consulting brain decided to look further. Tom Cruise’s Capt. Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell has a line in the new Top Gun movie — “it’s not the plane, it’s the pilot.” Whether or not that holds true here — Daniel probably does need to change something up.

Ricciardo has been hailed one of Formula 1’s best drivers by the American media. He currently is one of the two drivers for the iconic British team — McLaren Racing. The sport’s budding popularity in the country presented a blank slate that Daniel’s media team has utilized well. His widely self-proclaimed love of America, sponsorships fueled by the innate stardom created by a Netflix reality-meets-documentary show, endless tv/podcast appearances — the PR engine has not stopped for the last four years. At this point, he has a full-fledged clothing line, the only driver to keep up with regular drops every season for the past few years, something he loves staying involved with. His streetwear collection sells out within days and has become a staple for fans despite an above-average price point.

However, is he ‘currently’ one of the best? Not sure. He stands 13th out of 20 available positions on the grid. He ended last year at 8th and has not finished above 5th since 2016. Was he ever one of the best? Maybe. He certainly has a few iconic finishes, including Monaco 2018.

The performance conversation is somewhat warranted. I’ve worked on manufacturing plant floors, corporate board rooms, and everything in between. If I had trouble performing at my role for around 18 months after I was brought to be the star at a new organization, which is how long ago Ricciardo came on to McLaren, l would already be on a ‘performance improvement plan’ and on a 90-day plan to transition out. Luckily for Ricciardo — his job doesn’t work the same way as mine, and he’s still got a fighting chance.

I’m going to call out the obvious first. Trying to do these many media appearances, sell wine and clothes, and then try to be at the top of his game with a team where his day hasn’t come yet is probably going to stretch anybody’s capacity. Even with a horde of people supporting you. It’s like you’re trying to take the GMAT and trying to excel at a post-MBA job at the same time. You really can’t excel at both together, ‘together’ being the keyword.

Daniel has often expressed his wish to win a championship before he retires, and he’s now competing in a sport where more than half of his competitors skew almost a decade younger than him, including his teammate, Lando Norris. I found a few significant reasons that kept coming up everywhere I looked, and I have a few words of unsolicited advice for Daniel.

‘Gotta cut down the PR, Dan’

Few people who’ve worked around him in the factory think it’s his level of consistency. It isn’t surprising given Daniel’s public engagements. Lewis Hamilton, the seven-time world champion, is the only other driver to keep up with this level of extracurricular activities. Lewis has also been having a tougher season post a championship loss last year, and we have rarely seen him outside the F1 circus this year. Lewis also does hold the most records in the sport.

Daniel’s people are smart — they’re helping him make money in this newfound stardom, and it feels like they’re almost trying to establish an image of him independent of his racing career.

But that means either they are focused on cashing in right now, or they’ve secretly lost faith in the future possibility of Daniel winning a championship and are creating a backup career for him. Either way, it is definitely not helping with his form.

‘Doing the same thing again and again and expecting a different result is insanity’

Daniel often jokes that he knows nothing about cars, which I’m sure is a bit he likes to do, (like his famous ‘I’m really good-looking’ bit from Netflix’s Drive to Survive). However, he is widely reported as an instinctual driver vs. an analytical one. So should he try something else? Maybe. Does this mean he should go hole-in with his engineers at the factory and spend every waking minute learning the engineering behind the car? Probably. Should he hire a team of additional consultants and/or coaches with a fresh view to help analyze his performance and bring him along the curve much faster? Definitely. Change up everything you’ve ever known is my advice to Daniel, and do it now — it’s time.

McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown recently suggested at mechanisms that could help them get rid of Daniel earlier. That almost seems like narrative building to preserve the team image if McLaren pulls some sort of plug on an early release. Unfortunately, Daniel keeps having to defend these comments, which is probably derailing his focus even more. He has publicly mentioned a ‘killer instinct’ inside of him, and nothing short of tunnel vision can probably bring it back. His past two drives in Baku and Montreal have shown some promise, but nothing that tells me that the tide has turned completely.

However, he is also a regular guy who perhaps just wants to live a normal life, eat, drink, travel with his friends and family, and pursue his creative pursuits, which is completely alright as well. It seems like he has a choice: to revive his F1 career or settle into the next season of his life. Whatever that may look like — it’s a win-win and needs to be a conscious decision, maybe the most important one of his life yet.

So what’s it going to be, Daniel?